How Things are done in Guatemala #Ridingthebus

I know it's hard to believe, but not everything runs the way it does in the U.S. when you're in other countries. And I know it's even harder to believe that sometimes there are some things that are run better in other countries than they are in the U.S.

I would not put riding the bus in Guatemala in that category. 

Different? Yes. Very much so. Better?...far from. Let me just explain to you this process a little bit so you can better understand where I'm coming from:

Riding the Bus:

There are at least two people you will see on every bus in Guatemala, and sometimes a third:

• You will for sure encounter a driver, no surprise there. He, as I'm sure you can guess, drives the bus! Shocking, I know! But that is the extent of his duties. The surprising part is that he sometimes looks like he is about 15. Aside from driving the bus he is also in charge of the radio. It's a most important job, and the tastes in music are about as varied as the passengers that ride the bus.
• The second person you will meet on a bus in Guatemala is the person I like to call the caller. I don't know if he has a more technical title, but his principle job is to get people onto the bus. He stands at the bus stop and loudly shouts out the destination as many times as he can in a single breath. "Antigua, Antigua, Antigua, Antigua!" "Guate, Guate, Guate!" "Santa Lucia, Santa, Santa, Santa, Santa Lucia!" etc. When you make eye contact with this person he quickly ushers you onto his specific bus, before you have time to question if that's your actual destination or not. 
• The third person is the ayudante, or helper. His job responsibilities often include those of the caller, thus sometimes eliminating the need of a separate caller and giving you the two people I mentioned earlier. The ayudante's [helper's] job is to... help the driver! (It's funny how these descriptions and titles work together, don't you think?) But he actually has several clear responsibilities from what I can tell: The first, if there's no separate caller, is to get people on the bus. As I mentioned, the driver's only job is to drive. He pulls up to a stop, and if there's not a caller, the ayudante hops of the bus and takes on this very important role of ushering people onto his bus. Can't make money if there's no one to ride! After he squeezes on as many people as can possibly fit, and then a few more he swiftly gets back into his position at the front of the bus. This usually happens as the bus is pulling away from the curb; he's pretty skilled. His next job is to collect the money, which is easier said than done. Since the bus has now been packed to beyond capacity, he somehow has to squeeze his way all the way to the back of the bus collecting money as he goes, and making sure he gives the correct change. It's an impressive feat, because the bus is literally packed full, and I'm still not entirely sure how the ayudantes can make it through the extra narrow isle. After collecting the money he somehow makes his way back to the front of the bus, and takes his place at the open door of the bus, somehow managing to not fall out of the bus as it careens around corners and mountains. Sometimes the ayudante has the important job of honking the horn on the bus, because clearly the driver can't do this himself. Also if there's something wrong with the bus, it's the ayudante who jumps off to check it out, because the driver doesn't seem to be able to leave his seat while the bus is on.

Filling the bus:
There's always room for one more is a general rule for just about everything here in Guatemala, but especially with the buses, which are commonly called chicken buses. Couldn't tell you the reason why for that one...The ayudante will have the driver stop any time he sees someone who looks like they might need a ride, even (especially?) when they aren't standing at a specified bus stop. Oh, I should mention that these buses are just old school buses (as in elementary school buses, not "old school" buses!) from the states. Sometimes you can still see the name of the school painted on the side. They're usually covered with a bright coat of paint and Barcelona soccer stickers. I guess the drivers can decorate however they want. So the ayudante just keeps filling the bus with more people. And sometimes you think, "Now there's really only room for one more", but he proceeds to add about 20 more. You know how school buses in the states have one side with bigger seats, and one side with smaller? Well, in Guatemala they've replaced the smaller side with big seats. And you ALWAYS sit three to a seat. In fact, if the ayudante thinks you're purposely only sitting two to a seat, he may chose to charge you the fare for two people. After all the seats are filled, you fill the isles, naturally. Because, what fun would it be to just fill the seats? Once the isles are filled you start putting people in the overhead racks....kidding. But sometimes it feels like that's what they're doing! I honestly don't where they put all the people they fit onto one bus. Especially when our group is involved, because we add about 20 to an already full bus.


When I ride the bus, I just have to laugh. There is no such thing as personal space bubbles, and sometimes you're standing in the most awkward places, right up close and personal with some person you've never met before. Every bump and turn (of which there are many on the road between Antigua and Magdalena, and I imagine every other bus route in the country) shoves you closer to said stranger until you're standing so close you'd think you've been best friends, or siamese twins, your whole life, but yet you haven't met, and probably never will. And then the bus stops and more people get on, and you get even closer to your neighbor, and you just sit there not making eye contact- though their eyes are only inches from your own. On less crowded rides I like to talk to the people around me, learn their stories and whatnot. That's a rarity, unfortunately.  Yes, I have to just laugh as I ride the bus. But as I'm laughing, I look around me and don't see anyone else (save for my fellow gringos) laughing. In fact, I see a lot of Guatemalan faces staring at me as I laugh, and I know they're thinking, "Crazy gringo." Riding the bus isn't humorous to a Guatemalan. It's just life. Cars and gas are expensive, jobs aren't always right in your pueblo, so riding the bus is a part of life. Buses are packed, and that's a part of life. The ride is usually uncomfortable, and that's part of life. The road is bumpy, and twisty and turny, and that's a part of life. You do what you have to, and you don't think anything of it. Every day. Because that's life. You don't complain, because what would the point be?  For me, life doesn't usually include riding a chicken bus to and from work and home. It's a great experience, but one I'll reserve for Guatemala. So for now, I just have to laugh. And hope the Guatemalans don't mind this crazy gringo too much. :)

21st Birthday!

Well, I'm officially, officially an adult now! I turned 21 yesterday which means I can do just about anything! haha! Just about because I still can't drive a bus or rent a car. :) I can definitely say it will be a birthday I won't soon forget. This week (and next) I've been teaching English at a private school in Magdalena, and was warned ahead of time that birthdays are a big deal at the school. And so for the celebrations yesterday I got sung to by several of the classes and received some very cute cards from my even cuter kindergarteners. (The kindergarten class is the one I teach English to. There's four of us girls working up at the school and we each have our own class to be teaching with the help of each other and our site leader, Abbey.) At dinner my host parents had some brownies for us with a candle for me to blow out, and I got some gifts from my two host sisters, as well as a delicious loaf of bread and a cute journal from my two sweet friends, Beth and Alison. Oh! Back up. After working at the school for the day the girls that work at the school with me and our site leader went out for ice cream. And then after dinner our whole team went out for ice cream again! Two ice creams in one day, doesn't get much better than that! :) And then I got to skype with my parents, Kirsten, and Kayla! Great birthday if you ask me! Then today after recess the kids all lined up instead of going in like they normally do and they all sung to me again, but this time as a whole group and not individual classes. After that they gave me a hug one by one. LOTS of birthday hugs! But I love all those kids, so it was a lot of fun. Like I said, definitely not a birthday I will be forgetting any time soon. I had a great time hanging out with the kiddos and teachers at the school, and celebrating with the new friends I've made down here. So blessed to have so many people that love and care about me. Thanks for all the well wishes! :)

Card from one of my sweet kindergarteners!

Getting sung to by 80+ elementary school kids:

"ya queremos pastel, ya queremos pastel, aunque sea un pedacito, ya queremos pastel!"

(that's verse two. Then they clap and count until they reach your age)

LOTS of birthday hugs!

And that was my 21st birthday! 

Thoughts about Democracy and Dictators

I am happy to announce that this morning's class marked the beginning of my last week of Ibero-American History! I've never loved history classes. I enjoy certain aspects of history, but I often find the texts to be dry and boring, and the classes generally just a difficult time of lots of studying and memorizing dates. And so I was especially not looking forward to a full college history course crammed into four weeks, and was very excited to realize that this is my last week of said class! Ok, fine. It hasn't been that bad... And probably better that I took it here rather than a similar class at Greenville.

In my studies of the history of Spain and Latin America these past three weeks, I've come across several striking similarities amongst the various countries histories (more in Latin America than Spain). Those similarities being, the hand the US has played (good and bad, but really a lot of bad...) in the political turmoil in this part of the world, and the continual cycle of dictators and military coups.

In nearly every country I've looked at in Central and South America there has been, since the days of their independence from Spain, a history and vicious cycle of dictators overthrowing the ideas of democracy, and the struggles democratic leaders have faced in their various countries. I'm not saying the US model of democracy has got it completely correct, nor are we absolved from our crimes in these nations' histories. But we have sustained a democratic government and the same constitution for 200+ years, and that's pretty impressive. The countries in this area of the world haven't even been independent nations for that long, let alone democratic nations with a sustained functioning constitution.

Like I said though, I've come across a lot of issues that came from the hands of my government. Stable governments being overthrown by the CIA, dictators put in power and supported by our presidents and legislature, economies thrown into near crisis states because of actions our government took against them, support of military coups and brutal regimes...the list goes on. Most of this was done in the name of "stopping communism from spreading" and while this was probably true in some cases, we were also protecting our monopolies on land and companies that were held in these countries. Guatemala was thrust into a 36 year war because the CIA was sent in to remove a president who was, in all reality, a good leader of this country. Our (being the US government, but being a citizen of that country I can't remove myself from their actions. The color of my skin, and the accent I retain will always align me with that same government.) reasoning was that we were overthrowing a communistic leader, but the underlying issue is that the United Fruit Company, an American owned fruit monopoly, was worried that the land reform the president was working towards would potentially cause the collapse of their company. (PS. That president wasn't a communist.) Don't worry, the new president of Guatemala seems to be doing good things for the country and they've moved on past their civil war days. They also, in the grand scheme of things, don't harbor ill-will towards the US for our involvement in their country. But the fact of the matter is, in our quest to create countries just like our own, we've done some pretty terrible things (I would say check out the histories, closely, of the Dominican Republic, Chile, and Bolivia if you want more on this.).

Our past foreign policies are not something I'm necessarily proud of, as has been made more apparent by this class. That being said the more I learn about these countries, I can see how living in the States is a blessing. I have never lived under anything but a democratic leader. I have never had my rights taken away, nor has my family been taken away from me because of our beliefs. I can live in the security of knowing that our constitution will not allow for my civil liberties or basic human rights to be stripped from me. I am able to practice my religion openly. The media in my country is not censured (though perhaps a bit more censuring there would be a good thing! haha), and I am able to write my opinions about my country in this blog without having to worry about who might be reading it. Yes, there are aspects of our history that I cannot take pride in, and it hurts my heart to see some of the things my government has caused. But I am blessed. Hopelessly blessed by all the freedoms I have been given and enjoy without even thinking twice. Blessed indeed.